Her Faith Thrives

I was recently pondering the mind-boggling account of God’s command to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22:2). Since Abraham had left his people, God had promised to make him (and his descendants) into a large nation (Genesis 15:5-6). The only problem was his wife Sarah was barren, and well into her nineties when God made this promise. You can imagine how stunned Abraham and Sarah were to receive the promise of a biological child.

Years passed before the child of promise came, and there were some significant doubts that this impossible promise would be fulfilled. However, the time of fulfillment finally came and the child of promise, Isaac, was born.  After all those years of waiting on the Lord and seeing this promise come to fruition, the very God who gave the child asked in no uncertain terms that Abraham sacrifice the child on mount Moriah.

In obedience, Abraham started the three-day journey up the mountain, got to his destination, built an altar, bound his son, and put him on the altar.  However, just before Abraham killed Isaac, God spoke again.  This time God asked Abraham NOT to kill his son and provided a ram to sacrifice instead of Isaac.  I find myself sighing in relief and frustration at this point in the story.

If I had been in Abraham’s shoes, I would have been doubting God from the first directive to sacrifice Isaac.  Isn’t he the child of promise? How else would the promise be fulfilled?  If by some miracle I walked up the mountain and prepared to sacrifice my son only to hear God say I should not, I would be greatly relieved but full of doubt. Did I even hear God ask me to sacrifice my son?  I would have left the mountain disillusioned and wondering if I truly could discern the voice of God. Abraham on the other hand, left the mountain encouraged in the Lord and His provision (Genesis 22:13-18). Abraham’s faith is paradoxical.

• Abraham did not doubt that Isaac was the child of promise.
• Abraham did not doubt that he heard the voice of God when God told him to sacrifice the child of promise.
• Abraham did not doubt that he heard the voice of God when God told him to sacrifice a ram instead of his son.

Do you feel the tension here? I have sat at the juncture of paradoxical faith and found it hard to swallow too. Have you felt the confusion and doubt that can come from these paradoxical encounters with a good God? 

I was in college when I discovered that I wanted to be a missionary overseas reaching the world for Christ. This desire influenced how I chose my career path. With a love for the human body, I chose to become a physical therapist. While in physical therapy school, I went on 3 short term mission trips in south and central America. With each trip, my desire to serve as a medical missionary grew.

When I graduated from physical therapy school, I pursued a career path that allowed me to get specialized in manual therapy. It was a big investment of time and resources, but I wanted to serve the people in the mission field with the best skills I could acquire.  My hope was after completing the training I would start the application process with a mission sending organization to do 1-2 years on the mission field as a physical therapist. 2020 was the target year to start this application process but the Lord had a different plan.

In 2016 when I started getting antsy about being able to get out to the mission field, God started teaching me to accept each day as a gift from Him.  He convicted me about living in the present with my eyes completely fixed on the future. My eyes were opened to the present through a practice of daily intentional thankfulness. Through this practice, I began to see the work God had for me right where I was.  At the time I worked in multiple physical therapy clinics in a big city. I treated hundreds of people over those years and prayed for them and their families. I was living missionally as a physical therapist like I wanted, but I was not in the part of the world where I hoped to be eventually.

I completed my specialty training and loved the new skills it gave me to better address people’s physical pain.  I continued to work as a physical therapist and took the opportunities for ministry God gave me.   God allowed me to pray for my patients but also connect with women through writing, small group bible studies, mentorship opportunities and other events.  It was a fruitful time, in a different way than I had expected.

Late in 2018, I was at a mission’s conference, Urbana 2018, when God told me that I would not be a missionary overseas. This conference was everything I thought my life would be headed toward, and I was lucky to be selected to attend it. Yet this was the place where the Lord confirmed that He had given me the desire for overseas missions to steward for a season, but He did NOT desire for me to go overseas.  It was difficult to accept the way the Lord was leading, but over the years of practicing intentional thankfulness and seeing his faithfulness, I had learned that God could be trusted.

In 2019 I married the man of my dreams and became a US Airforce wife. The Lord began to place the deep desire in me corresponding to my husband’s desire to build a home that would be a light wherever He sent us through my husband’s Airforce career and for the rest of our lives. Although this is a worthy calling, the truth is this is not the overseas mission that I thought it would be.  I even wondered if following God out of missions into my home was a faith filled response! However, as God leads my husband and I into relationships and opportunities He wants us to be involved in, I know we are doing the right thing.  Our missional God stayed true to His nature; He is just calling me to the mission field in a different way than I had anticipated.

As you read my story and Abraham’s story, perhaps the unlikely faith journey that God can choose to lead His children through resonated deeply with you. These unexpected, paradoxical events challenge our faith and our understanding of God. However, as I look at Abraham’s story, my heart is instructed. It is possible for God to lead one on a path that seems contradictory, where logic and reason applied without the lens of faith will fail.  Abraham knew God had the power to raise people from the dead and so he both believed the voice of God to sacrifice the child of promise while believing that the promise would be fulfilled through the child he was about to sacrifice (Hebrews 11:17-19). As we seek to take faith filled steps of obedience in similarly conflicting circumstances, it is important that we remember who God is, meditate on God’s truth, and take steps of obedience even when we do not understand our present circumstances.  As we do these things, we can trust God to provide the truth and faith we need to do what He is asking us to do.

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord because you know you labor for the Lord is NOT in vain.  1 Corinthians 15:58

Reflection questions

1.      Growth: Is there anything in your life God is calling you to do or let go of in faith?

2.      Connection: Talk to someone you trust about what God is leading you to do and invite them to do the same. 

3.      Gratitude: This week list 3 things every day that you are thankful for. Let this practice help you see God’s blessings right where you are.

For Further Encouragement

Were you encouraged by this blog post? I would love to connect with you on our special Her Faith Thrives Newsletter which goes out every other month. In each newsletter, I share a short reflection about how I’m growing in my faith during this season of life. Plus, I’ll be sending you some fantastic resources to inspire and guide you on your own faith journey. When you subscribe, you will receive my all-time favorite tool for making your Daily Quiet Time truly meaningful. It’s called “From Routine to Reverence: 3 Simple Steps to a Deeper Daily Quiet Time.” I can’t wait to hear how it helps you deepen your time in God’s Word.